CHAPTER 21: Closure+ + + + + +
On into the early morning, the Tiny Toons celebrated with the rest of their class the completion of the cartoon education. As for Andy and Slappy, they spent most of their time hanging outside of the cafeteria on security patrol.
Slappy grumbled as she and Andy paused by the east campus entrance. "Ugh. I wish there was a way to see everything at once here so we wouldn't have to keep goin' over here every half hour. Too many trees and buildings in the way down here. What we need here is an aerial view."
Andy cocked an ear. "Your wish is my command," he said happily. No sooner had he spoken, then two large red and white feathered wings sprouted from his shoulders and spread themselves wide to either side of his body, which had enlarged slightly to accommodate them.
"Yikes!" Slappy squeaked, recoiling back from the sudden appearance of the large appendages. "Fox--what the..."
The two large wings began to beat powerfully, and Andy padded forwarded in several quick hops. Then his paws left the ground entirely, his wings beating nearly silently against the warm night air, lifting the two slowly into the black sky.
"How's this?" Andy asked, turning and slowly circling the Looniversity campus nearly twenty feet below them. He felt Slappy's legs wrapping tightly around his sides and one of her paws grip his back fur tightly. Andy turned and saw Slappy's face fixed in a look of disbelief and shock. He smiled. "Are you okay, hon?"
Slappy looked down at her feet dangling in the stirrups, the green lawn of the campus far below, then at the fox's paws which seemed to be pushing through the air in a fashion similar to swimming. "Remind me to keep my big mouth shut."
Sensing Slappy's shakiness and fear, and feeling he had gone a bit too far with her, the fox began to gently float down "Sorry, hon," he began. "I... thought maybe you'd like tooOOOYIP!"
"Yee-haw!" came Slappy's voice from behind as she suddenly pulled back on his reins with both paws and dug her spurs into his flanks. Andy flailed about helplessly in mid air with surprise. His wings flapped crazily as he tried to regain his balance. Her earlier fears now washed away by the wonderful sensation of open flight, Slappy laughed triumphantly and gave Andy another kick. Arching his back slightly, he took off in a flurry of feathers as Slappy rode him confidently up into the dark sky, soaring high and fast through the cool night, diving, swooping, and soaring again. "Yahoo, em... birdfox!"
"Careful," Andy warned, "you're going to lose your hat."
"Eh, put a sock in it, Fox," Slappy grumbled back, beaning him on the head with her umbrella. "So, did this come from your rite of passage too?"
Andy perched briefly on the tip of Looniversity clock tower before pushing off again over the back campus, the tassels and edges of his saddle blanket catching the breeze and fluttering softly. "Nope. Just an advanced toon shape shifting gag. I could always do temporary things like this if I felt like it. What I got from the rite is permanent."
Slappy shook her head and mused aloud. "He's got the powers of the universe at his disposal and he uses them to give his wife flying rides on his back." Andy didn't turn, but simply nodded his head. He felt his wife's paw pat his hip gently in silent thanks.
Their enlightened position did allow the two a grand view of the campus below which they, after a few more dives and swoops and Slappy giving Andy a tender kiss for brightening up her night, returned to guarding. However, the only activity they saw the entire night was when two shady raccoons had tried to bust into the campus. They were quickly ran off, their eyes popping at the sight of a mad, screaming squirrel riding a growling, salivating fox right at them.
"Hey, this is kinda fun!" Slappy commented happily as the two returned to their watch.
Later they spotted the two 'coons back at it, spraying graffiti on the side of one of the outlying buildings. The two were treated to a free explosives lesson, courtesy of "professor" Slappy.
"Heh ha!" She called after the two charred bodies stumbling away. "Just because school's over don't mean ya can't learn nothin'!"
"Think we should report them?" Andy asked.
Slappy shrugged. "Ehhh. I think they've learned their lesson, Heh ha."
The only other entertainment during their shift had been when Andy had given Mary Melody a complementary ride around the athletics track, eliciting several whoops and cheers from Shirley the Loon and Babs Bunny. Cheered on by the audience Mary smiled confidently back and gave them all an expert display of riding, much to Andy's (and Slappy's) surprise.
"C'mon, Fox!" Slappy said afterwards, grabbing her husband's left ear and dragging him back to the cafeteria by it. "Stop bein' such a nut. We're suppose to be on duty."
As the sun began to peek over the horizon the sounds of partying finally began to dwindle. At eight o'clock the campus lockdown ended, as did the celebration. Toons slowly streamed out of the campus, many with their parents, heading home to get some well-deserved sleep. The fox headed home as well, gently carrying a sleeping squirrel on his back.
Before retreating to bed himself, one more duty remained. After leaving Slappy sleeping peacefully in the mansion, Andy quietly slipped away into the forest beyond his yard, to see Lady Amber once more, and thank her.
Monday morning came, as it inevitable would, to the sleepy eyes of the toons of Los Angeles, except for those nocturnal animals ones who returned to their slumber as the dawn filled the land with the bright light of a new day.
Thumbing through the morning mail at his desk at Tetra Dimensional, Andy's eyes caught the familiar emblem of Acme Labs stamped onto one of the envelopes. He sliced it open with a claw. Inside he found a very heart-felt letter from The Brain and Pinky, expressing their deep gratitude and thanks for his actions in coming to retrieve them. Also inside the envelope was a small brass key with a note reading, "In you we trust our safety." The key, Andy knew, belonged to Pinky & The Brain's cage.
Andy took the small key, sat back in his chair and stretched. The fact that the mice' cage had a lock on it was a trivial matter at most, as The Brain was able to easily escape anytime he wanted, and the mice were never strictly confined to it anyhow. It had simply become their home. The gift of the key, however, spoke a deeper message from the two mice. It was a symbol of trust, and implied abdication of control. It was a message to Andy that the two mice had given him their trust, both in their freedom, but also in their protection, an item which, for a toon animal, is not a thing to be given lightly.
Andy tucked the brass key into his fur. He turned and gazed out the window at the L.A. skyline, the reflection of the sun glinting off a tall building's windows and glaring into his eyes. He gazed skyward into the dispersing morning clouds, and wondered what lay beyond the blue, beyond the black of space and the stars beyond.
Phillip looked at the spot where the toon, Andy Fox, had been standing only moments ago, before he was once again enveloped by blinding light and vanished before their eyes, to return to Toonity with the mice the same way he had come. A silence hung over the room for several seconds afterwards, before everyone slowly began to return to their tasks, the problem of the two mice solved for them.
Phillip scratched his head nervously. He turned to Arthur, who was staring fixedly ahead of him, a crooked little smile still on his face. "Ah, well if you still want that job I was talking about... you seem to have good references."
Arthur turned to look at Phillip, his thoughts slowly returning to the immediate present. "Em... okay." He fumbled a bit, recovering from the experience. "I'll have to call the school, of course... tell them I won't be there to finish out the year... they're never going to believe this."
He felt a hand on his shoulder. Spinning around he saw Winston standing behind him. The short, balding scientist's face was alight with pleasure. "Glad to hear it, Arthur. It's about time we had someone around here who wasn't so stuffy."
Phillip feigned annoyance. "Stuffy?"
"Plus," Winston added, "we can finish that discussion on toon gravity." He extended a hand, which Arthur took. The two shook firmly. "Welcome aboard."
On into the early morning, the Tiny Toons celebrated with the rest of their class the completion of the cartoon education. As for Andy and Slappy, they spent most of their time hanging outside of the cafeteria on security patrol.
Slappy grumbled as she and Andy paused by the east campus entrance. "Ugh. I wish there was a way to see everything at once here so we wouldn't have to keep goin' over here every half hour. Too many trees and buildings in the way down here. What we need here is an aerial view."
Andy cocked an ear. "Your wish is my command," he said happily. No sooner had he spoken, then two large red and white feathered wings sprouted from his shoulders and spread themselves wide to either side of his body, which had enlarged slightly to accommodate them.
"Yikes!" Slappy squeaked, recoiling back from the sudden appearance of the large appendages. "Fox--what the..."
The two large wings began to beat powerfully, and Andy padded forwarded in several quick hops. Then his paws left the ground entirely, his wings beating nearly silently against the warm night air, lifting the two slowly into the black sky.
"How's this?" Andy asked, turning and slowly circling the Looniversity campus nearly twenty feet below them. He felt Slappy's legs wrapping tightly around his sides and one of her paws grip his back fur tightly. Andy turned and saw Slappy's face fixed in a look of disbelief and shock. He smiled. "Are you okay, hon?"
Slappy looked down at her feet dangling in the stirrups, the green lawn of the campus far below, then at the fox's paws which seemed to be pushing through the air in a fashion similar to swimming. "Remind me to keep my big mouth shut."
Sensing Slappy's shakiness and fear, and feeling he had gone a bit too far with her, the fox began to gently float down "Sorry, hon," he began. "I... thought maybe you'd like tooOOOYIP!"
"Yee-haw!" came Slappy's voice from behind as she suddenly pulled back on his reins with both paws and dug her spurs into his flanks. Andy flailed about helplessly in mid air with surprise. His wings flapped crazily as he tried to regain his balance. Her earlier fears now washed away by the wonderful sensation of open flight, Slappy laughed triumphantly and gave Andy another kick. Arching his back slightly, he took off in a flurry of feathers as Slappy rode him confidently up into the dark sky, soaring high and fast through the cool night, diving, swooping, and soaring again. "Yahoo, em... birdfox!"
"Careful," Andy warned, "you're going to lose your hat."
"Eh, put a sock in it, Fox," Slappy grumbled back, beaning him on the head with her umbrella. "So, did this come from your rite of passage too?"
Andy perched briefly on the tip of Looniversity clock tower before pushing off again over the back campus, the tassels and edges of his saddle blanket catching the breeze and fluttering softly. "Nope. Just an advanced toon shape shifting gag. I could always do temporary things like this if I felt like it. What I got from the rite is permanent."
Slappy shook her head and mused aloud. "He's got the powers of the universe at his disposal and he uses them to give his wife flying rides on his back." Andy didn't turn, but simply nodded his head. He felt his wife's paw pat his hip gently in silent thanks.
Their enlightened position did allow the two a grand view of the campus below which they, after a few more dives and swoops and Slappy giving Andy a tender kiss for brightening up her night, returned to guarding. However, the only activity they saw the entire night was when two shady raccoons had tried to bust into the campus. They were quickly ran off, their eyes popping at the sight of a mad, screaming squirrel riding a growling, salivating fox right at them.
"Hey, this is kinda fun!" Slappy commented happily as the two returned to their watch.
Later they spotted the two 'coons back at it, spraying graffiti on the side of one of the outlying buildings. The two were treated to a free explosives lesson, courtesy of "professor" Slappy.
"Heh ha!" She called after the two charred bodies stumbling away. "Just because school's over don't mean ya can't learn nothin'!"
"Think we should report them?" Andy asked.
Slappy shrugged. "Ehhh. I think they've learned their lesson, Heh ha."
The only other entertainment during their shift had been when Andy had given Mary Melody a complementary ride around the athletics track, eliciting several whoops and cheers from Shirley the Loon and Babs Bunny. Cheered on by the audience Mary smiled confidently back and gave them all an expert display of riding, much to Andy's (and Slappy's) surprise.
"C'mon, Fox!" Slappy said afterwards, grabbing her husband's left ear and dragging him back to the cafeteria by it. "Stop bein' such a nut. We're suppose to be on duty."
As the sun began to peek over the horizon the sounds of partying finally began to dwindle. At eight o'clock the campus lockdown ended, as did the celebration. Toons slowly streamed out of the campus, many with their parents, heading home to get some well-deserved sleep. The fox headed home as well, gently carrying a sleeping squirrel on his back.
Before retreating to bed himself, one more duty remained. After leaving Slappy sleeping peacefully in the mansion, Andy quietly slipped away into the forest beyond his yard, to see Lady Amber once more, and thank her.
Monday morning came, as it inevitable would, to the sleepy eyes of the toons of Los Angeles, except for those nocturnal animals ones who returned to their slumber as the dawn filled the land with the bright light of a new day.
Thumbing through the morning mail at his desk at Tetra Dimensional, Andy's eyes caught the familiar emblem of Acme Labs stamped onto one of the envelopes. He sliced it open with a claw. Inside he found a very heart-felt letter from The Brain and Pinky, expressing their deep gratitude and thanks for his actions in coming to retrieve them. Also inside the envelope was a small brass key with a note reading, "In you we trust our safety." The key, Andy knew, belonged to Pinky & The Brain's cage.
Andy took the small key, sat back in his chair and stretched. The fact that the mice' cage had a lock on it was a trivial matter at most, as The Brain was able to easily escape anytime he wanted, and the mice were never strictly confined to it anyhow. It had simply become their home. The gift of the key, however, spoke a deeper message from the two mice. It was a symbol of trust, and implied abdication of control. It was a message to Andy that the two mice had given him their trust, both in their freedom, but also in their protection, an item which, for a toon animal, is not a thing to be given lightly.
Andy tucked the brass key into his fur. He turned and gazed out the window at the L.A. skyline, the reflection of the sun glinting off a tall building's windows and glaring into his eyes. He gazed skyward into the dispersing morning clouds, and wondered what lay beyond the blue, beyond the black of space and the stars beyond.